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I was a day out of synch this week, after delaying my long run last week from its usual Sunday slot to the Bank Holiday Monday. So I had Tuesday as a rest day and started on Wednesday with my favourite 5km run round the river. My shins were really sore afterwards, and I was feeling a distinct lack of support from my shoes. Do I have time to switch to new shoes and get used to them before the race in 6 weeks?

On Thursday I took myself down to the lovely people at Pure Running in Wellington Place, and having had my gait measured while running on a treadmill, and a selection of 6 different makes to try out including being able to run on the treadmill in them, I settled on a rather gaudy pair of KSwiss trainers.

I also bought myself a little belt – ostensibly for gels, but its got a handy waterproof pouch for my phone, if I’m ever running without my jacket. The weather hasn’t been great this week, but we live in hope of sunnier days!

Thursday’s run was a very quick 3 km round the block to try the new shoes.

On Saturday I was full of confidence for breaking the 30 minute target at the ParkRun, but when I arrived at Wallace Park it was full of vehicles and stalls getting ready for the Lord Mayors Show. I’d checked the ParkRun newsletter for amendments, but not the actual Wallace Park page, which would have told me that the event was cancelled this week. I quickly changed plans, got R to drop me at the back gate of Hillsborough Forest with Max, and we did the same circuit of the lake that I’d done last week in 19 minutes – this time in just over 15! So I was really pleased with my pace, though R was less impressed with the mucky state of Max and me when he picked us up.

Sunday was my long run. I pored over maps, anxious to avoid the problem I’d had last week of not choosing a long enough route. I also wanted to run some of the actual race route, in the right direction. It was raining, but I didn’t let that put me off, and I mentally got into the zone, and ran, and ran. 15 km later ( almost 10 miles), I was delighted with my longest ever run. The shoes had performed well, my legs felt good, and I’ll probably run this route again to get more familiar with some of the notorious hills.

Many thanks to those who’ve generously given me sponsorship monies this week – it’s all mounting up!